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Rock's Backpages provides access to over 24,000 classic articles on artists from Aaliyah to ZZ Top, on all genres from rockabilly to hip hop, by the finest music writers of the last 50 years. These feature over two thousand artists and range from 500-word album (or concert) reviews to 10,000-word interviews and features.

Rock's Backpages has been voted one of the best 25 music sites by the Observer, who called it "a cultural resource for students and a tool for journalists." The database also features a library of over 350 audio interviews, including classic coversations with Jimi Hendrix, Mick Jagger, Marc Bolan, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash, Kurt Cobain, Nick Cave, and Tom Waits.

Written by over 500 of the biggest names in music journalism, they are taken from the widest possible range of publications in the US and UK, from Creem and Rolling Stone, and from NME and MOJO.

During the years 786 to 1492 in Andalucía, Spain three cultures--Judaic, Islamic, and Christian--forged a relatively stable coexistence. Students, faculty & community members are invited to attend a panel discussion by three Appalachian State faculty members discussing this coexistence, using the book, Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain by María Rosa Menocal. The three panelists, Dr. Edward Behrend-Martinez & Dr. Scott Jessee, of the Dept. of History, and Dr. James Fogelquist, of the Dept. of Languages, Literatures & Culture, will use this interesting and accessible history to discuss the interconnections between these three major faiths during that time in Spain.

Students, faculty, and community members are encouraged to check-out the book and participate in discussion. Copies of the book are available in the Browsing section of the Appalachian State University Library. But familiarity with the book is not necessary to appreciate this event. The event will be Wednesday, April 9, 2014, at 5:00 PM in the Library auditorium Room 114.

If ASU faculty members are interested in offering extra credit to thier students for attending this event, contact Allan Scherlen (scherlnag@appstate.edu) who will be happy to take attendance for you.

The event is presented by ASU Library in conjunction with the Muslim Students Association as the fifth event of the Muslim Journeys Bridging Cultures “Let’s Talk About It” Program, a series of book and film discussions. The Program is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Library Association. This series follows upon the Muslim Journeys Bridging Cultures Bookshelf Program begun in spring 2013 which provided materials related to Muslim cultures to the University Library.

Sponsored by The Department of History, University Libraries and Mr. Bill Rhinehart

The Environmental Humanities Symposium begins at 9 a.m. April 4th in Table Rock, Plemmons Student Union. The event features three keynote speakers, an interdisciplinary faculty panel, a closing roundtable discussion and a reception. The keynote speakers are Dale Jamieson, professor of philosophy and environmental studies and affiliate professor of law at New York University, Phaedra Pezzullo, associate professor of rhetoric and public culture at Indiana University; and Mel Y. Chen, associate professor of gender and women's studies at University of California Berkeley.

The library has a strong collection in environmental humanites and has several of the keynote speaker's publications including:

In celebration of National Poetry Month, an exhibit of Affrilachian Poetry is now on display inside Special Collections on the 4th floor of Belk Library for the month of April. The exhibit, curated by graduate student Forrest Gray Yerman, is accessible while Special Collections is open. Click here for hours.

Affrilachian poetry is a distinction to say, Appalachian poetry by poets of minority ethnic backgrounds either from Appalachia, or with a connection to the Appalachian region. This distinction is made due to the historical and prevalent myth of Appalachians as white, mountain people, or hillbillies.

Like Appalachian poetry, Affrilachian poetry features many themes such as connection to place, family, food, music, nature, and coal mining, as well as poems and poets that take a broad view in writing about the South; broader, the United States; and most broadly, the world, and our human connection to the whirling “business” that surrounds all 7 billion of us. This exhibit features books of poetry from past and contemporary poets, as well as several books from members of the Affrilachian Poets, a formal, nationally recognized, invitation-only group of Affrilachian writers.

Curator Forrest Gray Yerman is pursuing a Master’s degree in Appalachian Studies and works in Special Collections. Affrilachia and the Affrilachian Poets are the focus of his graduate studies.

For more information about Affrilachian poetry, please see the pathfinder dedicated to this subject.

Pictured:

Top: This picture features several members of the Affrilachian Poets, and friend Parneshia Jones, and testifies to the true diversity of the Appalachian region and the group. From the top, left to right: Mitchell L.H. Douglas, Rane Ramón Arroyo, and Hao Wang; bottom, left to right: Crystal Good, Parneshia Jones, Ellen Hagan, Amanda Johnston, Kelly Norman Ellis, Tania James, and Bianca Spriggs

Middle: Randall Horton, member of the Affrilachian Poets, and Forrest Gray Yerman.

We have a trial through mid-April for Browzine. Browzine is an iPad and Android appthat allows you you gather your favorite journals, read them online, and savesome of the articles to read offline later. Browzine updates your library withthe latest issues.

In celebration of National Library Week (April 13-19) and National Poetry Month, Belk Library along with Verses Slam Team and Lyric, Appalachian’s spoken word poetry club is sponsoring a Student Poetry Slam.

COMPETITORS: This competition is open to ANYONE who is interested and has at least 3 original poems to perform. Sign-up is at the door and you must be early if you hope to have a spot to compete. The rules are simple:

All pieces performed must be poets own, original work.

Poems must be a maximum of 3 minutes in length, with a 10 second grace period. All poems over 3:10 will receive a time penalty to score.

No props.

A maximum of 12 poets will be in the lineup.

Spots are given on a first come first serve basis.

ATTENDEES: This competition is thoughtfully and sensually provocative, and is also a lot of fun! If you hear something you like, we encourage you to snap your fingers, stomp your feet and hoot and holler (try not to drown out the poet though)!

ADMISSION IS FREE and REFRESHMENTS ARE PROVIDED so bring your friends and family!

Students and faculty members are invited to attend the award winning and powerful documentary film, New Muslim Cool. . Discussion after the film will be led by Dr. Laurie Semmes, a professor of music history and musicology.

ABOUT THE FILM: New Muslim Cool touches upon Muslim-American hip hop culture but is more about the spiritual journey of Puerto Rican-American, Hamza Pérez, who left drug dealing to begin anew as a young Muslim. In Pittsburgh's tough North Side he starts a religious community and takes his message of faith to other young people through the music of his hip-hop duo M-Team. The film shows how difficult it is to be a young Muslim in America (Perez and his Pittsburgh mosque are targeted by the FBI), but also how Islam's adherents change amid tumultuous times and how they reach out in significant ways to people of other faiths.

If you are interested in offering extra credit to your students for attending this event, contact Allan Scherlen (scherlnag@appstate.edu) who will be happy to take roll for you.

The event is presented by ASU Library in conjunction with the Muslim Students Association as part of the Muslim Journeys “Let’s Talk About It” Program series of book and film discussions and in conjunction with the ASU Library Global Film Series. The Muslim Journeys Program is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Library Association.

Belk Library and Information Commons presents the Appalachian State University Global Film Series for Spring, 2014. The Global Film Series is a cooperative campus effort to provide a blend of cinema from around the world, in various languages, and representing a wide variety of cinematic genres. Based on input from students groups, faculty, and staff, we select current releases both educational and entertaining. In addition, the Global Film Series provides a platform for student groups and faculty to share their international experience, knowledge, and extracurricular opportunities through a variety of associated activities.

CarandiruThursday, April 10, 20146:00 p.m. Greenbriar Theater in the Plemmons Student UnionCo-Sponsored by Festa do Brasil and Belk Library and Information Commons

"Babenco weaves the stories of a dozen inmates into a densely textured fabric, capturing the feel of a closed society whose members have lost their freedom yet still maintain a tenuous grip on their humanity."— J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader

"Haifaa al-Mansour’s “Wadjda” is the story of a spirited 10-year-old Saudi girl discovering the severe limitations placed on women in the name of custom, Islam and family honor. With impressive agility, “Wadjda” finds room to maneuver between harsh realism and a more hopeful kind of storytelling."— A. O. Scott, N.Y. Times